Pre-Planned & Facilitated Hacks
For CUNY FemSTEM Hack Day attendees that would prefer to work on a pre-planned project with a workshop/tutorial structure, we will have a number of amazing women facilitating hacks. The following are titles and descriptions of some of the facilitated hacks that will be led at the event.
Some hacks require participants to install specific software onto their personal laptops. If you’re interested in one of these hacks, please get a head start on installing the associated software, as listed below.
CUNY FemSTEM attendees are encouraged to pitch and lead their own hacks! There will be an opportunity at the start of the event to share your hack idea and gather a team to work on it.
Introduction to Mapping with QGIS
This hack will introduce the fundamentals of map making with open source mapping software, QGIS. The map on your phone does a great job of helping you find places, but GIS (geographic information systems) allows you to make your own maps and ask spatial questions that are not possible with navigational maps. By participating in this hack, you will learn how to make a map using publicly available data and how to ask and answer spatial questions. By going through the process of map making from data collection to display, you will learn:
- what kinds of data are necessary for map making
- how to join datasets together
- how to visualize different types of data
- what projections are and why they matter
- how to work with historic maps
Though participants do not need any prior knowledge to participate in this hack, you must have access to a computer with administrator privileges to install QGIS. If you’re interested in participating in this hack, please start installing the necessary software as per these instructions.
Creating a Personal Website With Github Pages
In this hack, participants will design and code their own personal websites and host their final products using Github Pages. Participants will use HTML and CSS to create their sites, and will be introduced to Bootstrap, a popular front-end library that makes designing websites faster and easier. By the end of this hack, participants will walk away with knowledge of the building blocks of web development, a basic understanding of Git and Github, and their own personal websites to highlight their accomplishments and interests.
Participants should claim their student developer pack: https://education.github.com/pack. This is not necessary for the hack (although a Github account is needed) but through this pack, participants can gain access to free private Github repositories for future projects as well as a number of other free resources.
Participants should also have some kind of text editor installed on their computer. Common choices include Sublime text and Atom.
Physical Computing with Raspberry Pi + Python Intro
- Write programs which use active and passive electronic components using a Raspberry Pi microcontroller and programming in Python
- Create automated systems to solve complex real-world problems
Introduction to Statistics and Data Visualization in R
Build a Paper Cityscape!
In this session, we will plan, sketch, build, and document paper cityscapes. This is a prototyping session for a project that can be revised to use vector files and digital fabrication tools, such as a vinyl cutter or a laser cutter. Working in pairs or small groups is encouraged but not mandatory.
